Heys all, it's my second day in Adelaide, well, really my first cuz the "first" one was only like 2.5 hours :P
So here goes. Two verses for today. Okay, 3.
12 Since this new way gives us such confidence, we can be very bold.
17 For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.
Boldness. This verse speaks about having the boldness that comes from knowing the surety of the new covenant. Surety that it will end in everlasting life, that the Spirit is now with us, compared to the fading and dying old covenant. So this confidence comes from what I have in the new covenant, and not what I must do. And to me, this is a very needed verse for a new place. Exploration day today, so by about 3.30pm, I should be out of here with a mini shopping list, and in a new place, so... yeah!
And the second part is this, the verse where we always say "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." I think we often quote it out of context, but I won't make too strong an argument here, cuz I know many verse are quoted, or rather, applied out of context. Other examples include : I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, and God has not given us a spirit of timidity but of power, love and self-discipline.
So what the context of this verse is, the Spirit of the Lord is the one that enables us to see past the veil that blocks our hearts from understanding the Old Covenant (which points to Jesus). In other words, the Spirit is the one that removes this veil, so that we can see Jesus clearly, come to His saving knowledge and hence have the confidence boldness and assurance that we are taken care of in this life. So the freedom talked about here is the freedom from the religiosity of the Old Covenant, where the people followed in blindness, hoping to reach eternal life, but praise be to God, whom through the presence of His Spirit in us, has given us freedom from the bondage of the law. Now our relationship is no longer by law and order, but by love and grace.
And so, with our new unveiled faces, we can now SEE God's glory, or I like the word pre-eminence, in all things, and now, as we see how great our Lord is, all we can do is serve Him, by giving him the pre-eminence (reflecting His glory) in every area of our lives. And the more we give Him the pre-eminence, the more He is the center, the more we will become like Him. Pre-eminent, the head and not the tail, above and never beneath, blessed in our coming in, blessed in our going out (which I am about to do soon).
Amen!